Dororo, Lovestruck?
by Cautiously
Summary: Dororo finds out that his crush, Giroro, is now in a relationship with Zoruru. Crushed, he struggles to find a way to cope with it and finds comfort with Keroro. Fluff, mentions GIROROxZORURU, DOROROxKERORO
1. Crushed

**Hi everyone! Well, this is my first story on , and I really hope you enjoy it.**

**I'd appreciate if you'd give me all your love (or hate, whichever works for you). I'll try to act upon anything you suggest if I find it helpful. Thanks for reading.  
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**~~ I do not own any of the characters in this story and I got the cover image from animevice. ~~  
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Dororo was on the rooftop of the Hinata residence. He concealed himself from his two targets, who were sitting together near a red tent. The two had been spending an unusual amount of time together and Dororo wanted to know why. He creeped closer to them, trying his best to not make a sound. As he inched closer to the edge of the roof, he could hear their voices, but was unable to understand what they were saying. He had to get closer; he really wanted to know what was going on.

Dororo walked to the other side of the roof and jumped to the ground. He walked back around the yard, positioning himself behind a nearby bush that let him hear their voices better. He leaned closer towards them, trying his best to listen and keep himself hidden.

"Giroro, when do you think we should tell them?" he heard one of the two say.

"Tell them what?" the red frog asked.

"You know what I'm talking about."

Giroro sighed and gave a slight shrug.

"I don't know, but we really should tell them before you and your platoon leave, Zoruru."

The conversation had become much more interesting. What were they hiding from the others? He leaned in closer, but fell over.

"Dororo! H-how long have you been there?" Giroro asked nervously.

Zoruru instinctively lunged at Dororo as he took him by surprise and had him by the neck.

"Oh, it's just you," he said dismissively.

"Hello, Zoruru. How are you?" Dororo said, acting innocent.

"Fine," he said coldly. He sat back down on the ground next to Giroro.

Dororo paid no attention to Zoruru; he was used to the way that Zoruru treated him. He turned to Giroro, who had begun sweating.

"Giroro, I just arrived to go see Keroro. He said he needed me for something, so I came. Why?"

It wasn't exactly a lie; Keroro really did ask him to come over for something.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Zoruru kept his eyes focused on Dororo, obviously suspicious of him. Dororo knew that Zoruru could probably see through his ruse, but if he did know he was lying (which he probably did), he made no move to tell Giroro.

"I guess I'll be going now." Dororo chuckled, in a last attempt to throw them off.

"Okay, see you later, Dororo," Giroro said.

Giroro turned back to Zoruru and sat back down. Zoruru still had his eye on Dororo as he walked to the back door and let himself in. Compared to Giroro, Zoruru had been awfully cold towards him, but that was normal for someone like him. On the contrary, he had been acting much more gentle and kind towards Giroro while they were talking. What was up with that?

"Oh, Dororo!"

Natsumi greeted him as he entered the house and asked if Koyuki was alright.

"Yes, she's fine. Thanks for asking," he replied as he quickly walked in the direction of Keroro's room.

Fuyuki was in the living room watching a television show. He waved from the couch and greeted Dororo. He thanked him and went down the ladder that lead to his leader's room. As he was about to enter his room, Tamama furiously stormed out, babbling nonsense about "that woman" and how she was taking Keroro away from him. Dororo peeked inside before entering the room to make sure he wasn't interrupting. He saw Keroro and Angol Mois laughing and making jokes with one another. He walked in and spoke up.

"Keroro?"

"Oh, hey, Dororo. What are you doing here?" he asked.

How Keroro could forget about him that easily amazed Dororo.

"You told me you needed me to come over as soon as possible," he reminded him.

"I did?"

"You're so mean, Keroro!" he cried.

"Kero? I remember now!" Keroro exclaimed quickly. "I have a mission for you, Dororo."

He had remembered just in time; one second longer and Dororo's trauma switch would've been turned on.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Giroro and Zoruru have been spending a lot of time together. Zoruru is supposed to be sleeping in his platoon's ship near the moon, but he's been sleeping here on Pekopon for a while now. I think they are planning something. They probably want to split up and take over Pekopon without us."

Keroro was always confident that he was right, even in circumstances where he was obviously wrong.

"I don't think-" Dororo began.

"They probably already have a plan and an operation name and everything. We need to stop them before it's too late. I want you to spy on them for a while and gather information about their plan. If we can get a hold of their plans, then we'll be able to stop them!" Keroro said triumphantly.

Spying on them would be an easy enough job for Dororo. Besides, he had already spied on them once today, even if he was found before they could reach the juicy part of their conversation. They were probably talking about other things besides invasion plans and the sort, but it would be impossible to convince Keroro, so he decided to go along with it.

"Yes sir, Keroro. I'll make sure to do my best on this special mission. I'll start tomorrow."

He would make sure to try his best; he really wanted to find out what the two were keeping away from their platoons. He had about four days to spy on them and figure out what they were up to before Zoruru and his platoon left Pekopon. He would then need to report his findings to Keroro. He doubted that Giroro and Zoruru were making an invasion plan together because their conversation seemed too personal to be about topics like that. Dororo walked out of Keroro's room, leaving Keroro and Angol Mois alone with each other as they continued telling jokes.

As Dororo walked out of the house to go home, he saw Giroro near his tent. This time, he was alone, so Dororo decided to ask why he was spending much more time with Zoruru. He walked up to his tent and called to him.

"Giroro, I know that this is none of my business, but Keroro wants to know why you and Zoruru are spending more time with each other."

Dororo thought he could see him blushing, but it was difficult to tell against his red skin.

"Giroro?" he began. "We're friends, right? You can tell me what you guys are up to."

Giroro sighed. "I'm just afraid that you guys'll look at me differently if we told you."

"What do you mean? I'm not going to judge you, Giroro. You're my closest friend," Dororo reassured him.

"Well, I guess I can tell you, but please don't tell anybody else until we're ready."

Dororo nodded.

"Long or short?" Giroro asked.

"What?"

"Do you want to hear the long version or the short one?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. The one you're more comfortable with, I guess."

"Okay then. Well, long story short, Zoruru and I are..." he began. "We're kind of-"

"Giroro," Dororo interrupted. "Are you and him gay?"

Giroro's eyes widened in surprise.

"H-how did you know?" he asked in disbelief.

"I told you already. I know you. You're my closest friend," Dororo said, trying his best to maintain his calm demeanor and resist the enormous urge to cry.

In all honesty, Dororo saw Giroro as more than just a friend. He'd had a crush on him ever since there younger years in school back on Keron. When Dororo found out that they would be in the same platoon, he saw it as his chance to share his feelings with him. Up until now, however, he could never gather up the courage to do so. He hated himself for not speaking up sooner; he was sure by now that Giroro would've accepted his feelings if he had just had the guts to tell him, and now, Zoruru had taken his heart.


	2. Already Taken

**Hello again, everyone. Well, here's chapter two. **

**Yay cover art. I would've used my profile picture, but something tells me people don't want Nicholas Cage staring at them through the computer screen, so I changed it to something more modest.**

**Something about this chapter feels awkward to me, but maybe it's just my imagination. I'd appreciate concrit and all things of that nature. Don't be afraid to flame, though. Don't worry, though. The next chapter is much more clear and concise in my head, so hopefully that'll make up for this awkwardly worded chapter. I really should read a dictionary and expand my vocabulary. -o-  
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**c:  
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**Enjoi.  
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"Please don't tell anybody yet, Dororo, especially from someone like Keroro. At least, not until we're ready," Giroro pleaded.

"I won't." Dororo said in a solemn voice.

He tried his best to stay decent; he didn't want to break out in tears in front of Giroro. He would if he could. In fact, he wanted to fall against him. His legs were weak from the huge amount of emotions coursing through his veins at that moment, and he needed something to lean on.

"Is something wrong?" Giroro asked, noticing tears welling up in his eyes.

"No, I'm crying because I'm happy for you," he lied. His voice cracked and had gotten a bit raspy.

Dororo wasn't happy. On the contrary, he was brimming with jealousy. Questions raced through his mind, trying to find something that Giroro would like in Zoruru, but he found nothing. Maybe he couldn't find anything because he refused to accept that Giroro had chosen Zoruru. Whatever the reason was, he hadn't the slightest clue to what it was.

Giroro offered to get him a drink, which he gladly accepted.

Giroro might seem harsh and heartless at times, but he knew how to show kindness and he showed it well. It was one of the reasons that Dororo had taken a liking to him. Out of the four other platoon members, Giroro was always the one to show the most attention to him.

With Giroro gone, Dororo saw this as his chance to let his tears loose. He had been holding them in during their conversation and needed to cry. This sadness was a different sadness than his usual traumas. Instead of neglect, Dororo was crying because of jealousy.

How did Zoruru even win him over? Dororo searched for something that both of them could relate to, but again, he found nothing. If there was nothing in common between those two, how had they come together? It hurt Dororo's head trying to think about it, and the fact that he was crying and trying to think simultaneously didn't help either.

"_Am I not good enough for Giroro?"_ he thought to himself.

Giroro came back through the door with a glass of water. Upon seeing him approach, Dororo quickly wiped his eyes in an attempt to hide the evidence of his weeping. Giroro gave him the glass of water and waited for him to drink it all.

"I'll take it back for you when you're done."

"T-thank you, Giroro," Dororo said.

Dororo swirled the water in the glass for a bit and took a big gulp. It didn't make him feel any better, but at least it made him appear normal on the outside.

"Uhh, Giroro? So, about you and Z-Zoruru…"

"Yes?" he asked.

Talking about Giroro and Zoruru in a relationship didn't feel right to Dororo, but he figured it was probably the jealousy inside of him. He wanted Giroro to be happy; he loved it when he saw the rare moment when Giroro would show a smile, but he wanted to be his source of happiness, not Zoruru, a frog he didn't even remember. He was a frog that had tried to kill Natsumi, Fuyuki, Koyuki, and many more. He just didn't see how the two had ended up together.

"So, is there more to your story?" he asked in a semi-normal voice.

Sadness still lingered on his voice, but it seemed that the water sort of helped, in a way.

"More? W-what are you talking about, Dororo?"

"Giroro, I know there's more. Please tell me." Dororo had now completely disregarded the possibility that Giroro didn't want to tell him more. Dororo just wanted to know more details about their relationship; it had become his desperation.

"Then why'd you ask if there was more if you already knew?"

There was no reply from Dororo.

"There is more, but don't panic because I'm not even sure if it's true."

Dororo braced himself for the worst.

"What is it?"

"Well, Zoruru invited me to take a leave of absence for a while and stay with him on their ship," he said in the most controlled voice he could manage.

"Giroro! You can't do that!"

"I know! It's just that Zoruru keeps asking me, and it's getting harder and harder to say no each time."

"Please don't leave us, Giroro. If you go, we'll all miss you. What about Natsumi? You're her partner, you can't just leave her."

Before Giroro could give him an answer, Zoruru had appeared on top of Giroro's tent.

"Zoruru! You and Dororo need to stop popping into conversations like that."

"Sorry, Giroro," he said soothingly. He turned his one eye, which had a glint of hate, to Dororo.

"What are you doing here?" he asked with malice.

"I-I was just leaving. See you later, Giroro," he replied.

"Bye, Dororo."

Dororo began to walk out of the Hinata yard, looking over his shoulder at the two. Zoruru had sat down next to Giroro again. He wanted to go back there and spy on the two, it was his job after all, but quickly decided against it. If he was found by Zoruru, he would probably get a blade to the neck.

As he walked back home, where Koyuki was probably preparing dinner, he couldn't get his mind off the fact that the two loved each other. With Giroro absent, nobody was there to suppress his tears, he cried all the way home. The thought of Giroro leaving for some time with Zoruru didn't sit well in his head, which added to the already large amount of tears he was shedding.

The journey home seemed longer than usual, probably because of everything that was going through his head at the moment: the way Zoruru was treating Giroro, how they were planning to leave for a bit, basically anything related to the two.

When he arrived home, the tears that he cried were dried up on his face. Koyuki, who was meditating, noticed instantly and proceeded to cheer up Dororo. Her always upbeat personality always lit his day, and today was no exception. She came and hugged him against her chest. He started crying again, thankful that he had someone as understanding as Koyuki with him. He spilled the details of the day to her. She was always okay with Dororo sharing his problems with her. If not her, who would? Within minutes, Dororo felt better, all thanks to Koyuki.

She was well aware of his crush on Giroro and even encouraged him multiple times to just tell him how he felt. If only he had listened to her advice. Even still, Koyuki encouraged him to tell Giroro how he felt, just so he could get the weight off his back.

"_Maybe someday,_" he thought to himself as he fell asleep on Koyuki's lap.


	3. When Will This Stop

**Okay guys, so here's the next chapter. I can definitely say this chapter was easier to write than the other one, and I think it's probably cause there's less dialogue. I have trouble keeping dialogue in character, but descriptions are something I'm decent at.**

**Giroro and Zoruru are so cute together lol, even if it's a bit weird.  
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**oWo  
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**Enjoi.  
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**c;  
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Dororo woke up the next day, tucked in by Koyuki the night before. He walked outside and gazed at the city below him. The sun was directly above them, so he figured it must've been noon. Stepping back inside, there was one of Koyuki's rice balls with a little note attached. It read:

Good luck, Dororo!

I'll always be there for you!

Koyuki

Dororo, being the emotional frog that he is, felt like crying right then and there. Koyuki always looked out for him and always listened to his troubles. He remembered how she had hugged him while he spurt out everything about what happened, only realizing now that he had broken his promise to Giroro and told Koyuki about their relationship. He would need to watch what he said next time and hoped Giroro wouldn't find out.

He also needed to create some believable lie to report back to Keroro. His suspicions were wrong, no surprise there, but he needed to bring back some results to his leader.

He ate Koyuki's rice ball for breakfast. Even if the ball of rice wasn't the most appealing food he had ever eaten, it tasted much better than it looked. It was a behemoth of a rice ball too, and Dororo saved half of it for later; he didn't have a huge appetite.

He began to make the trip back to Keroro's house. Doing so would also give him a chance to see what Giroro and Zoruru were up to without arousing much suspicion. He went there in haste, his curiosity driving him to move even faster.

When he arrived at the Hinata residence, his first concern was what Giroro had been up to with Zoruru. He ran over to his tent's usual spot. Giroro was nowhere to be seen, and he was usually a morning person. If he wasn't outside, he'd probably be inside the base. Dororo went over to the front door and knocked. He knew he was always welcome, but he didn't like to skip over the formalities.

The door was unlocked and Keroro was there to greet him at the doorstep.

"Oh, Dororo! How is the mission going?" Keroro asked in a hushed tone.

"Keroro, why are you whispering?" Dororo asked in his normal voice.

"To keep our plan secret! What if they're spying on us?"

"Keroro, I don't think they're going to want to spy on us. Besides, I already found out why they've been spending a lot more time together."

As painful as it was to remember what had happened the previous day, he had shaped up a lie to tell to Keroro as he going to meet him. He thought it was believable enough, although a little rushed. He just hoped that it would be enough to convince Keroro.

"Kero? Really? What is it then, lance corporal?

"Well, umm," he began. The nervousness that was building up inside of him was preventing him from thinking clearly. "They were just… training."

"Training?" Keroro asked.

His eyes narrowed. "For what?"

"To help with your new invasion plan, whatever it may be." Dororo started sweating. There was no way someone would ever believe him, even for someone like Keroro.

Keroro took his time to process what he had just heard. Whether or not he suspected Dororo or not wasn't part of Dororo's concern. He was more worried about what Giroro and Zoruru were up to.

"Keroro, is Giroro in the house? He's not outside by his tent."

"Hmm? Oh, no he's not. He must be out training with Zoruru." It seemed that he had bought that sloppy excuse that Dororo had made, much to his relief.

"Yeah, that must be it," he falsely agreed. "I have to get going, I have to water my plants." He began to walk away from the door and towards Giroro's tent.

"Umm, Dororo? Aren't your plants down in the secret base?"

"Uhh, I mean the plants I keep at home."

"Okay then," Keroro replied.

He walked back into the house and closed the door.

Dororo sighed in relief. With Keroro out of his way, he could find out where Giroro had gone off to with no interruptions. He decided to search his tent for some clues. He knew that he shouldn't have been doing this; it went against everything he believed in: peace and love, but yesterday's situation had made him desperate for more information. Dororo made his way to Giroro's tent and placed his hand on the zipper leading into his dwelling.

He paused for a moment, contemplating the consequences of his actions, but continued anyway. Slowly pulling the zipper down, he looked around the yard to make sure nobody was watching him. When he was sure that nobody had seen him, he turned back towards the tent, seeing something that had almost made him faint.

Giroro was there, that was for sure, but he had to rub his eyes once or twice to make sure he wasn't experiencing a nightmare. Along with Giroro in his sleeping bag was Zoruru.

So much for keeping their relationship secret. What had these two been doing so late at night that they still hadn't woken up. It was already past noon and the two should've been up by now.

The two were cuddled together, both of them sleeping peacefully, enjoying each other's presence. Dororo quickly zipped up the zipper, trying his best not to cry on the spot, and ran home. Hopefully he hadn't woken either of the two up, or he'd lose either Giroro's trust or his life. Regardless, he cherished both, and went all the way home the same way he had gone the day before: wallowing in his misery.

o

Unknown to Dororo as he was opening up Giroro's tent, someone had seen him.

It had been Keroro.

Upon shutting the door, Keroro immediately ran to a window which gave him a view of Dororo. Keroro may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even he knew something was up with the way Dororo had been acting that morning.

He stared out to Dororo, who was at the entrance of Giroro's tent. He was turning his head from side to side, so Keroro took his head away from the window to avoid being seen. When he was sure he had stopped searching for onlookers such as himself, he slowly peered through the glass.

The zipper was open and Dororo had frozen in place. What had he seen inside that tent? Whatever it was, it was too late to find out. Dororo was running away crying and Giroro had come out of the tent shortly after. He felt compelled to ask Giroro what was going on, but quickly decided against it. He would probably tell him to mind his own business.

He walked back to the living room and continued working on the Gundam model he been building when Dororo knocked at the door. He tried his best to put what he had just seen aside, but the thought just kept returning. Did Giroro make Dororo cry? It wasn't like Giroro to do something mean, especially to someone like Dororo, who he'd known ever since his childhood.

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How many times did his heart have to break? Seeing them together was bad enough, but seeing them so peaceful and cuddled together in a warm sleeping bag was enough to keep him sobbing for a whole hour. The whole ordeal made his want for Giroro grow even larger and his envy of Zoruru deeper. Dororo funneled his jealousy into his tears, unlike Tamama, who would release it in one of his destructive Jealousy Balls.

He had cried himself to sleep that afternoon and had woken up around five o'clock. Koyuki still wasn't home from school, which was unusual, but it happened from time to time. She must've stayed at Natsumi's for a little while.

Dororo found the rice ball he had kept for later and ate it, eating even less than before. His grief was getting in the way of his appetite; he only ate a fourth of the whole rice ball during his meal. He put the last bits of the rice ball back in its place and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. Without Koyuki there, there wasn't much to do, and he was easily drifting back to sleep.

"Dororo?" a voice from outside said tentatively.

Was it Koyuki? The voice was familiar, but definitely not Koyuki's. A bit let down, he walked to welcome the visitor.

It was Keroro.

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**Any complaints, suggestions, flames are welcome here.**

**Salamat (Thank You)  
**

**c;**


	4. Turn for the Better

**Oh em ge, there was nothing to do for the past few days, so I decided to get ahead on the story. Prepare yourself for another emotional crying scene (I promise there will be happy chapters, so don't worry).**

**And guess what, more crying.  
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**Am I just depressing or what? -x-  
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**4 chapters, all have tears omglolwtfbbq.  
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**enjoi.  
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**c;  
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"Keroro!" Dororo exclaimed.

His visit was a surprise to him. Keroro never visited Dororo unless he was out of Gundams to build or there were no new releases for his favorite manga and anime. He was always Keroro's last choice.

"What are you doing here, Keroro? You never told me you were coming to visit," he asked curiously.

Keroro ignored the question and walked into Dororo's home without a proper welcome. It was terribly rude, but Dororo learned to tolerate Keroro, so much that he pitied him at times.

"Ooh, is that one of Koyuki's rice balls?" he asked as he ran towards the last pieces of the ball of rice. His eyes had a glow to them as he stared upon the last bits of delicious rice, and he stuffed the remains in his mouth.

"Keroro, don't eat it! I was saving it for-," he began.

Sadly, it was too late. Koyuki's special gift was now on its way to Keroro's stomach. This was more than enough to turn on Dororo's switch, and he curled up into his protective ball and started mumbling to himself as he recounted all the cruel things Keroro had done to him in their childhood.

"You took my lunch when we were little, so I had nothing to eat for the rest of the day. I was really hungry by the time dinner came, so I ate as much as I could, but my mother would scold me for eating too much. You didn't even return the lunchbox!"

That agonizing memory and many more were etched permanently in Dororo's mind. Keroro turned around after licking the extra rice off his fingers, only realizing now that he had Dororo spiraling into his depressed state. He had heard his mumbling earlier, but disregarded it. His mind was too busy savoring the taste of the remnants of Koyuki's rice ball. He immediately ran towards Dororo. He needed to get Dororo back to normal, or else he wouldn't get to ask him what had happened earlier in the yard.

"Dororo! Snap out of it!" Keroro shook him. It was obvious to the casual observer that Keroro was no expert in dealing with traumatized frogs, and his efforts had no effect on him. Frustrated, he tried many other methods of dealing with the situation, but ended up crying himself. Keroro's sadness had triggered his brain to reprocess what had happened and somehow managed to salvage what Dororo had said while he had tuned his whispers out of his head.

Teary-eyed, Keroro burst out in apology. Now there were two frogs on the ground crying. It was a sad sight indeed.

"I'm sorry Dororo! I didn't mean to make you cry. I was just so hungry. Natsumi and Fuyuki aren't home yet so there was nothing to eat and when I saw those bits of rice hunger just overwhelmed me," he said, but he knew excuses would get him nowhere with Dororo and continued on with his truly heartfelt apology. It was the only thing he knew he could do right.

"I forced myself to make you a lunch the day after I took your lunchbox as an apology to what happened the day before, but I ended up eating it. I reminded myself to make one for you again another day later, but I kept putting it off because I always thought I could pay you back later. I guess it's come back to bite me since I neglected you for so long." Keroro was really getting into it and looked like an exact replica of Dororo when his trauma mode was on, only greener.

"I also kept your lunchbox when we were young," he continued. "I always told myself I would return it to you, but I kept forgetting. I still have your lunchbox to this day and ever since we were assigned to invade Pekopon, I still continued to try to remember to give it to you, but I was always so caught up in making Gundams and watching television shows that I kept forgetting again and again. I know I've been a terrible friend to you all these years and yet you still put up with me and my antics. I'm sorry that I have to keep hurting you like that, Dororo! You're probably not listening to me because I don't know what happens to your senses when you look so miserable and beaten when you're like that, but I hope that you at least can hear me say that I'm sorry."

Keroro's confession went on for a few more minutes and was filled with more than a fair share of "I'm sorry" and other things of the sort. Little did Keroro know that Dororo had been listening to him the whole time. He didn't want to interrupt Keroro while he was in his own moment of trauma and decided to let him finish. He listened intently, on the verge of crying again due to the simple fact that he was glad that Keroro could show that he cared about others. Keroro's voice sounded similar to his when he was crying and Dororo could see that he was guilt was genuine. It changed the way Dororo saw Keroro in his mind, but of course, there was always complications.

This had happened before. He remembered when Keroro had gone down on his knees with apologies for his behavior many other times. They were all short-lived and Keroro was usually back to his normal obnoxious behavior the day after. Dororo could only hope that this time was different and also hoped that Keroro really did keep the lunchbox that he took. It was a cheap lunchbox, but its value didn't come from its price. Rather, it came from Keroro's decision to keep it all these years, bent on returning it. Even if he didn't ever remember to give it back to him, at least he had made an effort to try, which meant that he did value their friendship more than he usually showed to the other platoon members.

Keroro had finished with his rather long and sincere apology and slowly looked up to Dororo, afraid that he was still in the same position: crouched and curled. The face that Keroro made when he saw that Dororo wasn't still drowning in his painful memories was priceless and showed an enormous amount of relief to know that Dororo was back to normal. Keroro saw the tears that Dororo had cried on his mask, showing up as darker spots on the lighter fabric. It was only a reminder of the trouble that had occurred, but as much as Keroro wanted to rip the mask off to rid himself of anything that would tell of the guilt that he felt for his actions, he did nothing, knowing that he wouldn't appreciate it even if Keroro had asked nicely. He sat in front of Dororo speechlessly, who was on his knees and preparing some rice and tea.

"So you kept my lunchbox," Dororo said as he poured some tea into two small cups. He too was relieved. He felt a warm sensation inside of him, happy that Keroro had apologized and still recognized their friendship as something of importance. To Dororo, it seemed a bit funny to him that his lunchbox had become a sort of sign of the friendship that they shared. It wasn't a perfect friendship, but it still mattered a great deal to Dororo.

"Yeah," he said slowly. He kept quiet as Dororo handed him a cup of tea. He didn't want to talk because small traces of guilt still lingered around him, but not enough to keep him crying. He picked up the cup and took a small sip. He didn't usually drink tea, but the way that Dororo had prepared it made it taste heavenly.

The two exchanged small talk periodically, but a real conversation never lasted. It was still an awkward feeling for both of them to have been crying together. It left them dumbfounded and struggling to recreate a normal environment that they were used to.

They had tea and rice until the sun started setting. Their partial conversations had been filled with confessions and apologies and the mood never shifted to a cheerful one, but confessions and apologies were all that was needed to keep them happy for the rest of the day. Keroro got to apologize for many more things that he did wrong to Dororo, and Dororo was happy that Keroro had gotten rid of his burden of guilt.

It was time for Keroro to leave; the sun was almost hidden behind the horizon and the sky had turned a deep red with shades of darkness opposite the sunset. As he left Dororo's house to return home, Dororo stopped him before he had walked out of his house.

"You never did tell me why you came, Keroro. Mind telling me now?"

Keroro had come to ask about what happened at Giroro's tent, but his visit had taken an unexpected turn of events.

"I guess I just wanted to visit my best friend," he said with a slight smile on his face.

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**Hey, at least this chapter had a happier ending than the previous three. And so begins my journey to the happier side of the spectrum.**

**c;  
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	5. Giroro's Confession

**So, anyways, I'm back. It's been a REALLY long time. :( School's been hectic lately, so there's not much time to do anything besides study (all advanced classes ftw), but I'm thankful for the three-day weekend this weekend, and I found some time to write again. It feels so great to get back into the swing of things.**

**I'm also working on expanding chapter lengths, simply for the purpose of putting out more and (hopefully) improve my chapter construction skills.  
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**Chapter 5**

**Hope you enjoi.**

**c:**

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Dororo was left alone for the rest of the night. Koyuki still hadn't returned, which was an unexpected turn of events, but on second thought, today hadn't been much of a typical day for Dororo as he recounted that sobbing session he and Keroro had shared earlier that day.

Dororo stood outside on the rooftop, overlooking the city with his usual stance: feet together and arms crossed. He didn't come out to stare at the city much at night compared to daytime and wondered why he didn't do it often. The lights of the city below were very beautiful, showing lots of life, even in the middle of the night. Pekopon was a beautiful place, and Dororo couldn't bear the thought of invading and destroying the planet he had learned to love and enjoy.

Dororo sighed and turned his attention from the city back to his missing friend. Koyuki was rarely this late, and if she ever was going to be tardy, she'd always tell Dororo in advance. It must've just been something urgent that needed immediate attention. He hated being alone, and the fact that the rest of his platoon usually waved off his presence seemed more like a cruel joke by fate instead of a terrible coincidence. Dororo sulked in his misfortune as he pondered the mystery of why he of all people would be the least noticeable to the others. He stood motionless, brainstorming possibilities until his head ached from exertion. He cupped his head in his hands and made his way down from the roof.

He entered the unlit house, a reminder that Koyuki was still strangely gone, and searched for some kindling to put on the fire. After locating a few pieces of dry twigs and wood, he lit the fire, stoking it until it glowed a bright and warm red. He inched as close as he dared to it; a chill had entered the house from the inside. A ninja like him should've been able to whether such petty frost such as this, but he was much too occupied to focus on reserving his body heat.

This was one of the few moments where he wished that he had a room as comfortable as Keroro's. He was rarely there, partly because of his leader's failure to remember to invite him to the meetings that he sometimes held in his living quarters, and _if _Dororo was in his room, it was usually in the ceiling of the room, which was nowhere in comparison to Keroro's room below. The ceiling was dark and had an unpleasant odor, both of which shouldn't have mattered to someone with Dororo's degree of ninja training, but Dororo would've rather skipped the inconveniences.

Just another reason to hate Keroro.

Oddly enough, didn't hate Keroro. Being both one of his childhood friends and his leader, Dororo could never hate him, despite all the pain that Keroro had put him through in both his younger years and now as adults. His body must've been incapable of housing hatred; he could never recall a time when he truly hated somebody.

He snapped back to reality as the kindling he had placed on the fire had gone out. He must've been daydreaming for quite some time if the fire had burned out. Realizing how late it was, Dororo shuffled towards his bed, still taking more time to actually get to sleep. Without Koyuki, Dororo felt more vulnerable and exposed, making it even more difficult than it already was to feel even a hint of drowsiness. By some miracle, however, Dororo fell asleep, though at such a late time that one could see the first rays of sunrise peeking over the horizon.

x

Dororo woke up at around noon that day, and upon realization of the lateness of his rising, he frantically made his way to Keroro's house. He didn't really have a purpose for going there, but he tried his best to surround himself with people, even if they failed to notice him. He hopped from house to house faster than normal until he reached the Hinata's. He was panting from the strain that he had placed on his body and climbed the rooftop. He hesitantly and cautiously looked over at Giroro's tent, half-expecting Zoruru to be somewhere in the vicinity, but neither Zoruru nor Giroro were seen. After scouting the area for any sign of Giroro, he hopped down from the roof, walked inside, and quietly tiptoed through the Hinata house. The house was strangely empty, and there was no sign of Natsumi or Fuyuki anywhere. As he took light steps towards Keroro's room, he couldn't help but wonder where everyone had gone. First Koyuki, and now Natsumi and her brother. Arriving at Keroro's door, he spotted the small opening nearby that led to his leader's room. It was tucked in the corner and naturally concealed. The opening was large enough for Keronians and other small animals to fit in, but would be impossible for anything larger than that. Dororo climbed to the hole in the wall and positioned himself above a panel that was, according to his best guess, above Keroro. He lifted the panel ever so quietly and sure enough, the whole platoon was there, organized and congregated. Dororo felt tears creeping out of his eyes, and if Keroro hadn't turned his head towards him at that moment, he surely would've burst out crying.

_Did Keroro look at me? Did he hear me lift the panel?_

Dororo rubbed his eyes and pinched himself, making sure he wasn't dreaming. Keroro _never_ looked at him while he was in the ceiling before. Keroro waved in his direction and wore a cheery grin on his face.

"Hey Dororo," he greeted, "come down here. You're just in time for our meeting."

Dororo had a delayed reaction; he was too busy contemplating the impossible. Did Keroro hear him lift the panel? Dororo hopped down from the ceiling and nervously walked towards Keroro and the others. He looked over at the table. The rest of the platoon was amazed at how Keroro, of all people, had noticed Dororo staring from the ceiling.

"Well whaddaya know. Keroro's actually noticed Dororo for once."

"Ku ku ku, never would've expected that."

"Gunsou! You noticed Dororo! Wow!"

Keroro snickered with pride. He was obviously proud that he had noticed Dororo and motioned towards an empty chair at the table next to Giroro. Dororo walked towards the seat with uncertain steps, not knowing how to deal with a new situation like this. He took his seat next to Giroro, who was sweating and fiddling with his thumbs.

"So, as I was saying, that's the new invasion plan." Keroro conluded.

So much for "just in time for our meeting".

Dororo waited for Giroro's inevitable interjection, but he gave no response.

"This meeting is dismissed!" Everyone rushed out of Keroro's room to return to their usual spots. Dororo followed suit, disappointed that he had attended the meeting only to get an order to leave the room he had just been welcomed in.

"Dororo, wait."

Dororo turned around to face Keroro.

"Y-yes, Keroro?"

"Erm, wait." Keroro waddled towards one of the shelves in his room and took out a small box from behind his Gundams. He walked back towards Dororo, carrying the box with care. Dororo let out a small gasp as he came to realization of what it was.

"M-my lunchbox."

"I told you I kept it, kero." He handed the lunchbox to Dororo, who shakily accepted it. He wasn't sure if he was tearing up or not, but he didn't care. He eagerly accepted it. He was sure tears were welling up in his eyes; he hadn't felt this much appreciation in a long time, and from the person that he had least expected it from. His heart warmed and cast away any of the negative and doubtful thoughts he had had about Keroro the night before. This was a real improvement on Keroro's part.

"Th-th-thank you, Keroro!" Dororo thoughtlessly ran up to Keroro and embraced him. Keroro, stunned, didn't realizing how wrong it would seem to Keroro, he immediately backed away. Fortunately, the large amount of blush on his cheeks was hidden by his mask.

"S-sorry." Keroro, unsure what to do, just showed a slight grin along with sweat on his brow.

"Heh, it's alright Dororo. I know everyone loves me," he joked, trying to soften the awkward mood.

It didn't.

Dororo, still blushing madly, walked himself out of the house to avoid further embarrassment. With the lunchbox still in his hands he walked past Giroro's tent. Giroro was alone near his fire, but Dororo was sure Zoruru was somewhere around. Dororo made sure to get out of the area as quickly as possible to get away from them, or else they'd cause him more dangerous trauma. Dorornopo took the same path that he had taken to get to Keroro's with the same speed as last time. When he arrived home to a Koyuki-less house, he set the lunchbox aside and beheld all the memories that had come with it.

The lunchbox looked nothing special and was the opposite of extravagant. It was a customized, split colored blue and white lunchbox with Dororo's symbol on the top. It had a few dents and bumps that Dororo didn't remember to be there probably because of poor handling by Keroro. Still, it was the thought that he had kept it with him all these years that really mattered to Dororo.

He shook it a bit, trying to familiarize himself with the lunchbox that he had been separated from since his school days. He heard a small rustle from inside, and hoped that there wasn't years-old food inside. He slowly lifted both latches that sealed the lunchbox and opened the tin cover as he pressed his mask against his face to shield from any horrendous odors.

There was, in fact, food inside. Much to Dororo's surprise, however, it wasn't moldy or odorous. It was a neatly prepared peanut butter jelly sandwich with a small container of chocolate milk. Dororo grabbed and felt the milk, desperately hoping it was cold. He smiled as the cool touch of the container came in contact with his skin. At least the milk wasn't old.

He then inspected the sandwich, making sure that the moldy sides weren't facing downwards in an attempt to hide themselves. When he found no sign of any molds or unwanted substances, Dororo grinned through his mask and hugged the lunchbox against his chest.

_Keroro even made lunch for me, just like he said he would._

Dororo took the contents out of the lunchbox and prepared for his meal. He was really hungry. The last time he had eaten a meal, as he recalled, was lunch the day before, but even then, it was a small meal of a portion of Koyuki's rice ball.

Koyuki.

She still hadn't returned home. On second thought, Dororo didn't remember seeing Natsumi or Fuyuki in the house either. Dororo disliked being pessimistic, but things just didn't seem right. Koyuki had been gone for more than a day. If she was going to be away for this long, she would always tell Dororo in advance.

Something was definitely going on.

_My appetite. It's gone._

Dororo sighed and placed his sandwich and chocolate milk back in the lunchbox, making sure it was sealed tightly. He retrieved a pot large enough to fit his lunchbox, filled it with cold water from the nearby stream, and placed it inside to keep the box cool. He would eat it later when his appetite returned.

Dororo spent the next few hours doing what he always did during the day when he wasn't at the Hinata's: patrolling Tokyo to make sure its citizens were happy. There wasn't much to do; most of the people were either busy at school or at their job, so there were less Pekoponians that required assistance, much less from a ninja invader frog.

He returned home, a little let down from the lack of help he had given, and found a typed note on the ground inside his house. It read:

Ku ku, Keroro wants you back at the Hinata's as soon as you can.

That Kururu. Was it really necessary to write the "ku"?

Nevertheless, Dororo headed back to the Hinata's on the same path for the third time that day.

He arrived at the front yard of the Hinata's and quickly scampered to the base inside the house. While passing by the living room and the kitchen, Dororo hoped for any sign of Natsumi, Fuyuki, or Koyuki, but none could be found. Dororo was really worried now, but he could worry later. Keroro said he needed to come as soon as possible, so it was probably urgent, even if a little predictable. He made his way to Keroro's room and burst in, an unusual sight for the others, seeing Dororo use the door and not the ceiling as his means of entering. The other four frogs were already gathered, with Giroro standing at the head of the table, alongside Zoruru. Giroro was sweating and fanning himself while Zoruru stood nearly motionless and stoic with no sign of emotion in his one eye. Dororo grabbed the seat next to Keroro, who was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently.

"Keroro, what's going on?" Dororo whispered.

"Kero? Oh, Dororo. Well, Giroro says that he has an announcement. We were just waiting for you."

Dororo's heart sunk at the mention of the word "announcement". There was no doubt about it. Today was the day. Zoruru's attendance and Giroro's uncontrollable sweating were sure signs that today would be the day that he announced to the Keroro Platoon that he was gay and in a relationship with Zoruru. Giroro took a few moments and took several deep breaths. Zoruru looked towards Giroro to make sure he was alright, who nodded his head in confirmation. Giroro cleared his throat to stall for any last seconds that he could.

"Now that Dororo's here, I g-guess I… we," he said as he looked towards Zoruru, who only stared at him patiently, "can begin."

"First off, I'd like to thank you guys for being great teammates. Yes, even you Keroro," he said with a dry tone. "I hope that you all will understand." At this, everyone braced themselves and raced through the possibilities of what Giroro was going to tell them. Only Dororo knew for sure what he was going to say in his next few words.

"I'm gay."

How blunt.

Dororo's eyes widened and he stared at the rest of his platoon mates in his peripheral vision. There weren't any dramatic reactions, and everyone kept still as a long silence settled in. Keroro was the first to break it.

"Okaaay, so who's the guy?" Keroro asked obliviously. As if to subtly point it out, Giroro flicked his fingers in Zoruru's direction, but either Keroro didn't see such a slight motion or he just didn't get the hint.

"Sooo?" he asked again.

Giroro sighed deeply and exploded back.

"ZORURU YOU IDIOT!"

"Oooh, okay." Was Keroro really fine with that? Giroro had come out of the closet and wasn't bombarded with hate from his teammates. Dororo began considering coming out himself if the reactions would be the same for him. He studied everyone closely, trying to read their inner thoughts that they hid beneath their appearance. Everyone seemed okay with it, though, he thought he could see a hint of jealousy and rage when he studied Kururu.

He himself was still feeling bits and pieces of jealousy towards the two; he was definitely coping much better than two days ago, but he still couldn't help feeling torn up inside. Dororo bit his lip to restrain his tears as the silence settled back in.

"W-well, anyways, now that I've gotten that out of the way, I have some business that I need to attend to. We need to break the news to the Garuru platoon." Giroro began to make his way out of Keroro's room, followed a few steps behind him by Zoruru, who shot an angry glance towards Dororo. With the departure of Giroro, the others dissipated also, except for Keroro, who was already where he was usually found.

Dororo stayed behind; he wanted to thank Keroro for the lunch and also ask about Koyuki and Natsumi.

"Thanks for the lunch, Keroro."

"You're welcome. Did you like it?"

"I'm… erm… saving it for dinner… Keroro?"

"Yes?" Keroro asked.

"Do you have any idea where Natsumi, Fuyuki, or Koyuki are? Koyuki hasn't returned home from ever since school yesterday."

"That's weird. I was about to ask you the same thing. No, I haven't seen Natsumi or Fuyuki since school yesterday either," he said with his hand against his chin in thought. Keroro started pacing around his room, obviously worried about them too, especially Fuyuki.

"Keroro, what if something's happened to them?" Dororo asked worriedly.

"…I don't know."

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**I guess now would be a great time to say that I've added a twist to the story, so I hope that draws in more readers.  
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**R&R if you'd like! I'd really appreciate it. ^_^**


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